Heartbreaking does not begin to describe it. Until their dying days, the rugby women of England will remember the events of this evening and regret what might have been. Their failure to prevent New Zealand winning a fourth successive World Cup, however, tells barely half the story. It will be scant consolation to Catherine Spencer and her team that England were involved in the most intense 80 minutes female rugby has ever known.

To a woman, the English sank to the turf utterly spent at the final whistle. Their bravery had been extraordinary, the strength of their willpower almost scary. At 10-apiece with 15 minutes left, there was a genuine possibility of them breaking the Black Ferns' long-time stranglehold on this event, a 59th-minute try from Charlotte Barras having transformed the contest. It was not to be, but England's valour in defeat was magnificent.

Not even the most grudging misogynist could fail to admire the staggering commitment of Maggie Alphonsi, the whole-hearted efforts of Sophie Hemming and Jo McGilchrist, and the head-girl authority of Spencer.

If you are going to be harsh – and England surely will be when the dust has settled – there was a lack of cutting edge and more than a hint of big-game nerves.

New Zealand had three players sent to the sin-bin for ball-killing and were reduced to 13 at one stage, a situation the hosts should have exploited more ruthlessly.

By far the overriding memory, though, will be of England's defence. McGilchrist's effort to gallop back and catch the flying Carla Hohepa in the second half revived memories of Josh Lewsey's pursuit of Jean de Villiers – across the road at Twickenham – in the not-too-distant past.

The difference was that McGilchrist is a lock forward; when people talk about the giant strides the women's game is making, they need look no farther for definitive proof.

Emily Scarratt also put her body on the line to spectacular effect and in front of more than 13,000 spectators. The atmosphere was rousing even beforehand, when the crowd drowned out the Black Ferns' version of the haka with a loud rendition of Swing Low. It did not work in England's favour as they spent the entire first quarter of the game in their own half, albeit without conceding a point.

In a way it summed up their performance: hugely committed defensively but guilty of little errors which ceded possession too easily. It was lucky New Zealand's goalkickers missed two very kickable penalty attempts.

The frustration of it all, uncharacteristically, got to the Black Ferns. By the half-hour they had received two yellow cards, the referee Sarah Corrigan having lost patience with the amount of bodies on the deck.

In the case of the 45-year-old Anna Richards, a lawyer could have made a case for some leeway on grounds of age – "My client is too old for rolling away" – but, as so often, a New Zealand side with backs to the wall is not to be underestimated.

England, possibly through over-excitement, could not make their temporary advantage pay and it was their opponents, by this time back to 14, who scored the only points of the first half. Hohepa is not the tournament's top try-scorer by accident and a dagger-sharp break left the England defence flat-footed, a rare sight at this World Cup.

The damage might have been minimised had the normally accurate Katy McLean not missed two straightforward chances, the second on the stroke of half-time. McLean made amends within three minutes of the restart, but there followed a period of such intense pressure you wondered if England could possibly hold out, let alone fight back.

Their refusal to yield, albeit unsuccessful, should rank among the great rugby efforts and Barras's try, cutting back on the angle after a succession of close range scrums, was stunningly brave.

It has been a striking couple of weeks for the women's game. The International Rugby Board will have been thrilled by the rising profile, and increasingly robust health, of female rugby. Even the half-time streaker looked rather more of an athlete than Erika Roe ever was. The stadium was not quite full to overflowing, but there were enough spectators of both sexes and all ages to create a thoroughly agreeable occasion. That is not, sadly, the abiding memory England's players will take away with them.